Thursday, March 20, 2014

Yes, I knew there's going to be something that would go wrong. You think I don't feel guilty all those times? A professor's words ring in my ear each morning, whenever I do the deed, a little guiltily. This is what he said, "There's nothing called a free lunch in this world" and these are the precise words that roll over in my head, just before I brush them off, each time accompanied by a chant in the name of God. I'm not used to breaking rules, after all. However high on corruption my country might be. But still. Sometimes the easier way has its own pull and you get addicted to it, especially if it works. Most of the time, anyway.

The last time it happened, Scoot was carefully parked outside a Raymond's showroom. As soon as I put it on it's hind stand, packed the silver/grey helmet in, (I still haven't found the perfect purple helmet. Someone gift it to me please?) I made a mental note of admiration for the thing that had such a big role in shaping my personality to some extent; that of an independent, brave and appreciative girl. If I could, I would have stood there till eternity, smiling proudly at Scoot. But for one, I was "obviously" getting late for college and two, despite the fact that I have dollops of weirdness-awesomeness in me, it's not always a good idea to show-off. People are useless in terms of understanding it, because.

See how BEAUTIFUL she is? :')

So as I walked away, those words making me squirm with guilt, I did not look back and prayed. Apologies and a plea for safety. After the usual day as I paced towards Scoot and finding it safe, breathed a sigh of relief, little did I know that the relief was somewhat short-lived. It took two rolls of the tyres to make me realize that the back tyre was flat. Either punctured somehow or someone deflated it. Since I was anyway high on guilt, I dragged Scoot with an anxious heart, driving at a snail's pace. Of course I knew that you're not supposed to drive with a flat tyre, but what was the alternative? The nearest petrol pump was ten minutes away, near my place.

*Fast-forward to today*

I didn't leave dear Scoot anywhere near that showroom again, of course. (Happy Mr. Moron-Raymond? -_-) I found a new place. Still guilt-ridden, though. And it feels even worse because I leave Scoot in a rush, not wanting anyone to see me like that, doing the deed. I stopped turning back to look, like you usually do with loved ones. Of course she'd feel betrayed. She still didn't allow me to bear the brunt of my mistakes. Like a real friend, she kept it to herself, strained herself when I should have been paying a bit more attention. She never let me have any problem. Even today when she was hurt, it wasn't "me" who was the victim. It was Scoot.

Those words had floated in my mind, again. I brushed them off, again. Prayed, again. Had the usual day in college, again. I paced again, like every evening, cleaned the seat of dust, just to find a bum-pattern already in place. Seriously? The major disadvantage of leaving Scoot on it's back-stand is that it becomes easy for welle people to sit on it and chat or whatever. Although I'm all for social service, I'd still mind getting weird patterns on Scoot. At least wipe it off, you. -_-

The doubt began as soon as Scoot was on both it's ... tyres and felt heavier than usual. By the time I drove for a couple of seconds, it was clear: Somebody deflated Scoot's tyre. Again! And I most certainly did not appreciate it. Not even knowing it might have been my mistake because seriously, why JUST Scoot? A lot of people are to be blamed as well, but why target Scoot? She's the most innocent two-wheeler ever! Belonging to the most innocent rider!

Wanting to just reach home safely, I rode Scoot way below the minimum speed possible, watching the world, including cyclists and jay-walkers pass by quicker than I was moving. Would you call me crazy if I say it was actually fun? And funny? Have you ever been on a two-wheeler with a deflated tyre? Not that it is recommended, because, like I imagined, the tyre might come out completely and you'd fall, or in some cases, burst. And you wouldn't know what happened and although I have a very active imagination, that was something I dared not imagine. Anyway, it's funny because the vehicle moves in a very...... "jumpy" way. I was hopping on Scoot, without actually hopping. :P Just because the tyre wobbled and I was sitting on the moving vehicle. (Again, it is not recommended. Be more alert, unlike me. And use your brain and go to the nearby tyre-walla, ten metres away, instead of the petrol pump, ten minutes away).

It was kind of weird, not zooming past everything. I saw real people, like, live. They looked so... people-like. Normal. They still exist. o.O And they're not really as mean as I believed them to be. No one really cared to stare at a girl hopping past them, even though I must have looked really funny. I mean, of course I was! I wanted to get off Scoot, clap and laugh at myself! Just that I couldn't!

Taking more than double the usual time, I managed to stop at the tyre-setter outside the petrol pump. Feeling grateful to the bhaiyya who made Scoot stand up solid, once again. Assuring me too, that she isn't punctured. :') Considering how Scoot did not let me down by breaking down herself in the middle of an extremely busy main road, despite the fact that she "desperately" needed petrol since forever (eeeps!), I have to say I'm proud of her! :') As a treat, I made the petrol-guy fill in double the usual amount of awesome petrol. :P

The only thing now is, I'm confused. Should I still take the easy way out and endanger Scoot? Again? Or should I make the extra effort and get up early and make it harder for me, instead of for her? The sin I've been committing? Not keeping Scoot in the metro parking, because the main area is under construction for more than two years now and it was a pain to park in that cramped, uncomfortable and extremely far-for-comfort parking. I had been parking it just next to the metro station. Un-allotted space. For free.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

You remember how it used to be on the good old days of my undergrad when I reached college hardly on time? And then MBA happened and it all became a sad past. But seems like some things just come up so you cherish the past instead of feeling horrible about it. I'm late to college. *Very* late, in fact. And if I think about how it all happened, you'd say it's because of my carelessness, which is probably true, but I'd like to give it the benefit of doubt and call it a classy God-wants-you-to-be-late-due-to-some-insane-divine-logic thingy. (What? I'm still me, hence, hopeless with names :P)

So what happened was, I got up with a *lot* of difficulty, considering how tired I was coming back from the farewell yesterday. (Yess. The end is nearly there! And oh by the way, the title I got was 'Paperback Princess'. I always end up getting bookish stuff o.O or princessy stuff. Both, in this case, which is actually awesome). And also considering the fever and all that jazzy (but non-awesome) things that happen that make you want to sleep. But I was still ready on time and ready to shoot out when I realized I had to put my stuff in my usual bag. Throwing in both 6-subject notebooks (no time to check the subjects), and the lunch box (still the old one. What did the maid do with the new hot pink lunch box mom got???), I rushed out, sat on Scoot and rode off. *speed, speed, speeeed*

Halfway through I decided to do a mental check to see if I had everything I'd need. That's when I realized I forgot the laptop at home, which we'd be needing in class today. Recalling my group partner's Whatsapp message. *shoot* Instead of turning right like I had to, I took a u-turn and *speed, speeeeed, speeeedddddd* rushed back home, parked Scoot outside and *knock knock*, waiting for the door to open. I rushed inside and packed in the laptop, not forgetting the charger this time. Throwing out one spiral notebook (who has time to check the subjects????), packing the bag again and rushing out. It's drizzling.

It had started to rain while I was rushing back home and it was still drizzling. The maid, like always believing she's the queen of the world or whatever, advised me to take a riksha instead, in case the rain goes bad and I'm stuck in some weird place. And I like an idiot dismissed my own brain and took her advice. Taking the sole rickshaw available, who did not even have change for a 100, I dragged myself towards the metro station. It's such a pain to be in a snail-paced rickshaw, and think about my pain when it did not even rain a drop.
---___---

I don't know why I keep using this picture.
It is just so "me" :P

I reached my station 5 minutes after the deadline time I have for myself to be able to reach college on time. It would still have been okay had it not been for the awesome fact that I had forgotten my Metro card at home. In another bag in another place, where I had kept it for use yesterday. *Note to self: never ever forget metro cards while changing bags* I had to take a ticket! The vending machine (those new thingies they put instead of letting normal human beings do the job) was very conveniently 'out of service'. The customer care had a long line and the line was half as long for the other TVM. I walked towards it and saw no Metro official. The people were playing with the machine on their own and since the awesome machine doesn't accept any other denomination than 10 and 20 and I had neither, I had to go back to the long customer care queue and wait for my turn. Spying on people, I realized that everyone was just recharging their cards and I almost decided to go back to the other counter that seemed to be open, but then thankfully the guy before me got a ticket and I asked for one too. Got it!

It was half hour for the class to start and I had a 40 minute metro ride, not counting the train-change time. Plus the rickshaw-to-college time. God! Whatsapping a friend, I got some solace thinking he's 4 stations ahead of me, late too. But still. What if the whole class turns up on time and I'm the only one who is like, 20-25 minutes late and the teacher doesn't allow me inside and I have to go back, embarrassed? O.o Not that I care about that, but I can't miss the class because I have already somehow missed 4 of this subject and we're allowed to only miss 3. And for the three days I did not go to college and wasn't well, I had the medical certificate which I think was in the spiral notebook I threw back and left at home. I want to die.

But it's okay. It is a bad day, even you have to agree. I ran to take the shorter (and more crowded) route and then the not-so-tempting general coach just because it would help me walk less on that insanely long platform at my station. I was around 10 minutes late for the class, which, considering all the kattas that happened, was not at all bad. And just when I had jumped up on a rickshaw for college and had the tyre complete one revolution, I heard someone calling my name. Looking back, I saw a teacher waving at me and we stopped, waited for her to hop up on the rickshaw and then moved. It wasn't bad, except for the fact that I'm horrible at conversing with teachers. I don't know how others do it so easily. I just can't. -_-

20 minutes late to class. Eeps! Running towards the room, avoiding people too slow to move like the ninja I am, I reached class. And what do I see? Everyone casually strolling around, chatting and gossiping and homeworking and all such 'ings' that happen in a classroom. The teacher bent over the coveted attendance register, pen hovering, staring. Not quite understanding what he was doing, I went all, 'err sir? Ashna. Present!' :P And he went, 'Ashna? Oh yeah, present' :P Yay *_*

Why do weird things happen with me? I'm such a strange-things-magnet. I mean, these are the kind of things you can't even begin to explain to anyone. Suppose the class had started on time, imagine if it had been a sadu teacher instead and had asked why I was late, then? I couldn't even talk about the metro having a problem because that has now become a staple with the going-by-metro population which includes......everyone. But still. That is why I believe in God. He saves me. :P

PS- Two things. One, I need to write and write and write. My vocab is at an all time low. Two, I had typed 90% of this while going to college, in the metro, on the fone. I'm awesome or am I awesome? ;) :D

PPS- I've noticed this trend. When I write regularly, I hardly get any new followers and readers. And when I'm on an unmentioned hiatus, I seem to attract more bloggers to join the site. Why? -_- Are you guys, by any slim chance, implying that you'd encourage me to not post? -_- :P